Many different tools are used during surgical procedures to facilitate different aspects of the procedures. A commonality to all surgical tools is that they should be sterilized prior to use during a surgical procedure to minimize the chance of patient infection. The health care industry expends a considerable amount of time and money to perform these sterilizations. In the case of many surgical tools, the tools are shipped sterile from the manufacturer. If these tools are designed to be reusable, the tools will require resterilization following use. These resterilizations can be performed by the hospital, or the tools may be returned to the manufacturer for resterilization. In either case, an additional expense is incurred by the need to maintain sterilization equipment and personnel trained in its use, or by additional shipping and transaction costs.
Sterilization concerns are magnified for battery powered power tools as there are additional concerns about battery life and/or recharging the battery. Starting a procedure with a partially charged tool runs the risk that the tool battery may not last for the entire procedure. Therefore, a sterile charging environment may be required, or the tools may need to be recharged prior to sterilization. This increases the tool's down time and requires that a hospital keep extra tools on hand. The extra tools must also be maintained and kept sterile, once again increasing costs